


Violet Sunset

by thefluffcat



Category: Promare (2019)
Genre: Lifeguard!Galo, M/M, Mer!Lio, mermaid au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-19
Updated: 2020-03-19
Packaged: 2021-02-23 08:24:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,089
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23208541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thefluffcat/pseuds/thefluffcat
Summary: Galo is a lifeguard, passionate about saving people with his unwavering spirit, but a normal day on the job becomes life changing as he stumbles upon something by the tide pool...
Relationships: Lio Fotia/Galo Thymos
Comments: 14
Kudos: 207





	Violet Sunset

**Author's Note:**

> All the Mer!Lio fanart on Twitter inspired me *-*
> 
> Also re-watching the movie 3 times since the DVD was released.

The relentless summer sun beat down heavily onto Galo’s already sunburnt shoulders, his spiked blue hair dry and full of static, shading his forehead as it absorbed the heat meant for his face. 

Taking his dollar store paper fan, he quickly flicked it back and forth to circulate some air around his head. It did little to alleviate the humid heat, but it felt nice for every spilt second it reached him. 

He could tell his co-worker, Aina, wasn’t fairing any better as she slumped down into her white lifeguard chair, a half melted bag of ice cubes resting atop her forehead. 

Letting out a groan, Galo closed his eyes against the bright sunlight, he could still see the light shining beyond the darkness of his eyelids, and he wished his shift would end already. Fat chance of that though, as one of the workers had called off last minute and he just _knew_ they were going to ask him to stay overtime. Which he would most definitely agree to since he can’t say no, and he was broke as shit. 

The sound of someone clearing their throat got him to open his eyes and look down to see Remi giving him the stink eye behind his glasses. 

_Well speak of the devil._

“No dozing off on the job,” Remi ordered in a clipped tone. 

“I wasn’—“

“And Ignis asked if either of you would be able to cover Vary’s shift this evening.” 

Aina sat up straight in her chair, the melted ice bag plopping into her lap. “He had the closing shift right? Sorry no can do. I have plans later that involve me and my air conditioning unit.”

Remi turned his green eyes back to Galo, raising an eyebrow in question. He was the type of guy who didn’t like to repeat himself, so he was most likely just waiting for Galo to say yes so he could go back inside to do paperwork out of the sun. 

“Well... I suppose I could. It really hasn’t been a busy day.” Galo’s eyes trailed over the beach front, a few family’s playing beach volleyball, girls suntanning, one or two kids splashing each other in the waves. “Alright, I’ll do it,” he reluctantly agreed. “Even though it’s hot as balls out! You totally owe me an ice cream or something.”

“Right... an ice cream... sure...” Remi replied as he was typing something on his phone with a serious expression on his face. 

Just as the green haired man started to turn away, he stopped in his tracks to acknowledge his co-workers one last time. “Oh. And don’t forget that members of the Foresight Foundation are supposed to show up today, they’re a pretty big name marine research association, so if they ask for anything just give it to them, we want any good rep they can throw our way.” 

Giving half-hearted murmurs of agreement, Remi seemed satisfied and continued on his way. Once out of earshot, Aina turned to Galo with a thumbs up, “Thanks for taking one for the team.”

“Yeah, yeah, of course,” he said while beginning to fan his face again. “I don’t mind pulling a double, but I just wish something would happen! All this lazing about isn’t good for my life guarding soul,” Galo complained, dramatically draping his body over the side of the chair. 

From his now upside down position, he saw Aina cross her arms, “What? Do you want someone to drown?”

“Yes!” Galo paused for a second. “Wait! I mean— no! Nothing life threatening really! You know what I mean.”

Aina laughed in good nature at his stumbled answer, standing up to stretch her arms over her head. She shifted as she fixed her standard red one-piece swimsuit from where it had rode up a bit. 

“Well I’m gonna go get more ice,” she said, as she held up the now bag of water. “You want anything?”

“Nah, I’m good, I’ll probably just do a quick patrol of the beach.”

“Sounds good, see ya in a bit.”

Setting down his fan, he dusted off some sand that had stuck to the bottom of his red swim trunks, making his way towards the shoreline. The white sand was loose and with each step his feet sunk slightly into it with a burn, as the grains had been cooking in the bright sunlight for hours now. 

Looking off towards the horizon, where the ocean blue met sky blue, Galo stopped to appreciate the view. To think he had grown up in the city, landlocked for most of his life. It was only after a vacation with his parents, that he knew he had to return to the ocean one day. Something about the waves crashing, and the power of the water, that tugged his heart here. 

It flooded his soul till he could feel nothing else. 

...

Well damn.

Now he had gotten himself worked up and wanted to go for a swim. (Not that it took much to get him excited about swimming.)

He would just have to wait till the beach closed for the evening. Galo had stayed late many times before, regardless if he was allowed to or not. 

The rest of the day went by in a haze of heat. Doing a few more patrols up and down the shoreline of the beach he was in charge of, the most he had to do was stop a fight between a couple of children who thought it was funny to take away their little brother’s floatation device. When he had looked towards the parents in askance they simply shrugged it off as kids being kids. A+ parenting, truly. 

The only other instance of note, was a team from the Foresight Foundation showing up with their underwater sonar gear to survey the beach. They made a few rounds of the shore until finally settling on a rocky outcropping that jutted out past the shallows, the grey stones almost reaching the part of the ocean that dropped off into much deeper waters. 

He had tried to initiate conversation with them when they had first arrived, eager to learn more about their work, and what they were going to do today, but was quickly brushed off. The man, whose name tag read Vulcan, gave him a sneer, telling him to go back to playing babysitter. 

By sheer strength of willpower, Galo forced himself to walk away from the situation, grumbling all the way back to his chair, where he then proceeded to accidentally snap his poor fan in half. 

Aina, handed him one of her bags of ice in silent solidarity. _Dealing with people was sometimes the worst._

By the time the sun had started to set, both Aina and the Foresight team had long since went home for the day. Only a few patrons remained on the beach, all of which were starting to pack up their stuff as closing time neared. 

Remi approached Galo with a flashlight in hand, holding it out once he was within reach, “Don’t forget to do one more sweep of the beach before you leave. Make sure no ones still lurking around.” 

It didn’t happen often, but sometimes they would catch teenagers still on the beach’s private property, daring each other to stay there after closing. 

“Aye aye,” Galo gave a mock salute, and then clipped the flashlight onto the elastic of his trunks. He still had some daylight left, so he wouldn’t need it just yet. 

As he made his way down the beach, feet enjoying the now cooler sand, he whistled some catchy pop song tune that he forgot the lyrics to, taking in the pretty hues of orange and pink that colored the setting sky, light cottony clouds almost on fire with the warm hues that painted them. 

He made it to the one end of the beach’s property line, marked by a shallow, but wide, tide pool zone, it was there that Galo spotted something bright red in the distance. The setting sun reflecting brightly off whatever it was. 

Going to investigate, he carefully stepped on the dry rocks that surrounded the small pools of water, catching glimpses of sea stars and other aquatic life scuttling about in the shallows. Once he got close enough to the object, he saw that it was a small plastic red bucket. 

“Some kid must have left it here by accident,” Galo muttered to himself, continuing to make his way over, jumping across a smaller pool of water. 

The bucket, he noticed, was pretty close to the edge of the tide pool zone, a few more feet and it would be swallowed up by the crashing waves of the main body of the ocean. 

He couldn’t let that happen, since part of Galo’s job description involved keeping the beach clean, but besides that, he generally hated the thought of any litter polluting the ocean. 

Once he was a few feet from the bucket, he suddenly had the feeling of being watched, making him come to a halt. His wet feet lightly slapping on the solid rock beneath him as he looked around. He didn’t see anyone, and there really was nowhere for anyone to hide considering it was all flat stones and shallow pools. 

His gaze traveled back along the stones in front of him, and he noticed a dark, almost black, horseshoe crab settled atop a rock nearby. He hadn’t noticed it as first due the shadows blending in with it. 

“You sure are one freaky looking little dude,” Galo squatted down to stare at it close up, its’ weird exoskeleton-looking eyes staring right back at him. 

He reached out a finger to poke it, but jumped back in surprise as it suddenly started scuttling towards him, causing Galo to fall onto his backside. 

“Hey!” He exclaimed as he glared at the arthropod, the sunlight catching on its dark exoskeleton, bringing out a blueish hue to its black exterior. 

The horseshoe crab seemed to size him up before scurrying into the nearest tide pool, from where it stayed in view but out of reach. 

He had seen horseshoe crabs wash up on the beach before, he had even helped flip them back over so they could return to the ocean, but he had never met an aggressive one before. 

Side-eyeing the little bugger, he slowly stood back up, and walked over to the bucket. Trying to keep one eye on the horseshoe crab, he blindly reached to grab the yellow handle on the side.

Somewhere in the back of his mind he registered the sound of a loud splash coming from the ocean, but he paid it little mind as he lifted the bucket up into the air, and felt it tip with the weight of something in it. 

He looked down to see a bright red crab stuck inside, the top of its shell a darker shade than its legs and claws. It’s beady black eyes looked up at him, as it’s legs slid on the smooth plastic, unable to find purchase. 

“Oh hello, little fellow,” Galo said to the crab. “Some stupid kids must have caught and left you inside the bucket by accident. Good thing I came along to save the day huh?”

He gave one of his award winning smiles down at the crab, who simply stared back at him unblinking. 

An awkward second passed before Galo dropped the smile, “Am I really talking to a crab now? Geez. I’m sure it would be grateful if it could understand me,” he muttered to himself, as he reached inside the bucket to try and grab the crab out. Maybe not the smartest plan, as Galo was met with snipping claws going for his fingers. 

“Hey! That’s not very nice,” he reprimanded, voice raising an octave or two. 

The crab gave a couple more angry snips of its’ claws in response. 

If he didn’t know better, Galo would think this crab was giving him sass. 

He went to reach for the crab again, because Galo was a man who never gave up! 

It was then that he heard a splash louder than before, this time accompanied by an equally as loud slap as something solid hit the ground behind him. 

With a jolt, he felt water spray against his calves and he quickly turned around to see— to see— well he wasn’t quite sure what the hell he was seeing. 

A few feet from him, crouched low onto the rock, was what looked to be a young man around his own age. Making eye contact, Galo’s blue eyes met violet, their narrowly slated pupils aimed to burn holes into him, and as Galo’s gaze roamed down their back, he saw that where legs usually were, a smooth black tail flicked to the side in irritation, half hanging over the edge of the rock. The last remaining bits of sunlight reflected off the shiny scales, casting rippling hues of pink and teal, dazzling in their beauty. 

Not daring to breath, he took a hesitant step back, his grip on the bucket automatically tightening, as he brought it to his chest as some form of protection. 

This seemed to be the wrong move as the creature let out an angry hiss between sharp teeth, a spiked fin rising in anger along his spine, and dark webbed ears fanning out in stark contrast to their lighter colored hair.

“Holy shit!”

Trying to further the distance between them, Galo failed to pay attention to his surroundings and felt his right foot slip out from under him. 

Ignoring his gut reaction to use his hands to break his fall, he did what Aina would call “A Galo Move” and instead held onto the bucket while using his other arm to make sure the crab wouldn’t fall out. 

The pain of his head smacking against solid rock sent a jolt through his entire body, accompanied by a insistent ringing in his ears, and as his vision swam, the last thing he saw before he blacked out was violet eyes speckled with orange that glowed like the sunset. 

_They’re beautiful._ Was the last coherent thought he had, before he let himself go to the welcoming nothingness. 

~ ~ ~ 

Lio flinched at the sound of the human’s head hitting the ground, he had only wanted them to drop the bucket with his friend instead, not hurt anyone. Panicking that maybe they had killed them, he moved as quickly as he could to the human’s side, he could hear his own scales scraping against the hard rock but he ignored it for the more pressing matter at hand. Once he was close, he saw the human’s eyes roll back into their head. 

After taking a second to collect his erratic thoughts he took two webbed fingers and placed them at the side of the human’s neck, looking for a pulse. 

He let out a deep sigh as he found one pumping strong, and he let his eyes flutter close in relief, only to snap back open a second later to coldly glare down at the horseshoe crab waiting nearby. 

“Meis! You didn’t have to trip him like that! He could have died!” 

The horseshoe crab let out an unbothered scoff, “Hardly a loss.”

Gritting his sharp teeth together, Lio was just about to reprimand the arthropod more when the bucket wiggled a bit in the now lax grasp. 

A loud excited “Boss!” was heard as the bright red crab scuttled out onto the human’s bare chest. Tiny black eyes shone with gratitude as he clacked his claws in happiness. 

Lio placed his hand down to allow the crab to step onto it, bringing him up to eye level.

“I’m glad to see you’re okay Gueria.”

“I knew you’d come boss! But— uh, don’t get me wrong I could have taken this guy by myself,” Gueria boasted.

“Uhuh, sure you could have,” Meis chimed in, voice dripping with sarcasm. 

Letting out a huff of air, Lio set Gueria back down beside Meis, “You two can continue to bicker if you want, but we have more important things to worry about.” Lio gestured to the unconscious form beside him. 

“Can’t we just leave them here?” Meis asked at the same time Gueria whispered “Can’t we just eat it?” 

Lio gave Gueria a look, having caught that comment. The crustacean moving his little mouth full of maxillopeds. 

_Scavengers,_ Lio thought ruefully, shaking his head in defeat, these two weren’t going to be helpful. 

Lio reached a hand out to feel the back of the human’s head where they had hit it, drawing it back to see if there was any blood. 

The sun had set already, but Lio’s pupils widened to accommodate for the lack of light; it was also helpful that some of his scales cast their own bioluminescent glow. 

Having adjusted to the change in lighting, he was able to see only a tiny smear of blood on the webbing of his hands, _thank Neptune._ He hoped the human would regain consciousness and be able to make it back home safely. He had been righteously angry when he saw the human kidnapping his friend, but he didn’t wish death upon anyone. 

A slight movement caught his attention, and he stared curiously as a part of the human’s blue hair hung over their face, wispy strands fluttering with every exhale through their nose. 

_It looks so soft,_ Lio couldn’t help but think as he reached out to touch it. 

Without meaning to, he let out a surprised sound, startled at the smooth feeling under his hand. The closest thing he could compare it to was some of the softer anemones, but without the sting that accompanied it. He rarely stayed outside the water long enough to let his own hair dry, and even then it was never this soft, being clumpy from the salt that dried into it. 

He didn’t realize how long he was petting the hair until he felt a soft pinch on his tail fin, bringing him back to the moment. 

“So what’s the plan boss?” Gueria asked, as he opened his claw up from where it had been closed over his fin. The crab’s tone of voice suggesting they had been trying to get his attention for at least a few minutes now. 

Lio cleared his throat, “I’ll stay with him till he wakes.” He hoped he sounded more sure of himself than he really felt, because in all honestly he wasn’t sure it was the smartest plan, but it was a plan that felt right. It’s his fault the human was in this state to begin with, and he was one to always take responsibility for his actions. 

Both Meis and Gueria, not agreeing with the plan, were still adamant about staying with him, so they watched from their underwater spot in a tide pool a few feet away. 

He could feel their judging eyes on him as he explored the human’s body, but _hey! it wasn’t everyday he got to be this up close and personal to a human. It would be a wasted opportunity otherwise._ At least that’s how he justified his actions to himself. 

He picked up the human’s hand, twisting it around to place his own against it, noting in irritation how small his was in comparison, even with the added spread of the webbing in between his digits. 

He was just starting to explore the strange fabric covering the human’s lower half when he heard a groan rumble from their chest, causing Lio to let go of the stretchy material with a snap. 

Lio watched as their face scrunched up in pain, eyebrows drawn together, before slowly opening their blue eyes. He tried to move away, he shouldn’t be seen be this human more than he already has, but something in him wanted to stay, wanted to be seen, even though he knew this had to be a bad idea. He had spent so long avoiding human contact, watching from afar, that in that moment he forgot why he was scared of them in the first place. They didn’t seem so scary up close.

Lio could see exactly when the fog cleared from the human’s mind, because their eyes lit up in... fear? Or maybe surprise? It was hard to tell what emotions were running across their face. Their mouth opening and closing like so many fish he saw everyday in the sea, but before they could voice a single thought, something seemed to catch their attention. 

The human looked down, and Lio followed their gaze to find that he still had his hand on their torso. 

Quickly trying to draw his hand back, the human was faster as their hands came up to gently surround his own. 

Stiffening under the touch, Lio watched as the human played with his hand, not unlike what he himself had been doing earlier. They seemed fascinated by the natural bioluminescence the spread pink and teal throughout the veins in his webbing, and the scales on the back of his hand. 

The human was still surprisingly quiet, but he felt their gaze burning against Lio’s pointed ears, and then traveling across to his scaled cheeks. 

Looking up, he made eye contact, those blue eyes now had a fire within them, reminding Lio of his view of the sun from under the waves. 

The human drew their face closer, and he could see the violet glow from his eyes reflected back across deep blue. 

Not understanding what this newly lit fire meant, he searched their face for any telltale clue. He was so focused, that he flinched on instinct when he felt a hand against his face. 

The human winced at their error, expression turning to that of a kicked seal, as they started to pull their hand away. Though the hand stopped when Lio, naturally following the warmth, leaned into the touch. 

The look from before returned to their blue eyes, as they greedily took in Lio’s face, from the point of his nose to the few scales scattered across his cheeks. He felt the thumb as it rubbed over a few scales on his cheekbone, watching as the pink light faded under the light pressure then returned to glow stronger as he felt himself blush slightly. 

Letting out a breathily laugh, the human spoke for the first time since regaining consciousness, “I can’t believe this is real. Aina is never gonna believe this.”

Tilting his head curiously, Lio wondered who this Aina person was, and why they were important right now. He would much rather know who was right in front of him. 

Pointing a finger at the human’s chest to indicate they should introduce themselves, he was glad the human seemed to catch on quick.

“Oh? Me?” The human also pointed at their own chest, to which, Lio gave a curt nod in acknowledgment. Realizing that Lio could communicate on some level, the human seemed to vibrate with excitement. “I’m Galo Thymus, number one wave crashing lifeguard this side of Japan!” Galo finished by crossing his arms over a now pridefully puffed up chest. 

Blinking at this odd display that reminded him of a pufferfish, he took a second to think of the right sounds in human dialect, after which Lio pointed at himself. “Lio, Lio Fotia.”

Galo’s eyes seemed to sparkle as he once again took Lio’s hand, and shook it in, what he could only guess, is a weird human ritual, “It’s nice to meet you Lio!” 

He was honestly in awe that this human had seemed to make a full recovery from being bashed in the head just a few hours ago. 

Something clicked in Lio’s mind right then. 

_Oh! That’s what that look had been earlier, awe._

But before Lio could really process what these emotions entailed, a bright light caught his attention, illuminating the water next to them. Turning towards the source, he could feel his pupils contract into thin slits, as a boat’s masthead light trailed closer to their location. 

Normally Lio would have noticed a boat approaching much sooner, giving him more ample time to escape, but he had been so enraptured by this human he had not even heard the machine’s loud roar over the waves. 

Cursing himself for being so careless, Lio moved forward to dive back into the sea, to dive back into the safety of the dark depths where he could move more freely. This human was weakened, and he could fight them off if he needed to, but he didn’t want to take his chances with more of them. 

But before he could pull himself over the edge he felt a hand tug on his wrist, holding him back. 

“Wait!” Galo pleaded, looking worried for some reason. _It was a human machine, what did he have to worry about?_ Lio glared down at the hand surrounding his wrist, letting out a warning hiss.

“Let go.” Lio growled, his tail slapping the rock in agitation. 

“Will I get to see you again?” Galo asked, sincere curiosity in his sparkling blue eyes. 

The glare marring Lio’s features quickly melted into quiet apprehension. Galo would most likely let him go if he promised to met him again, and there would be no way the human could make him return once he was back in the water. There was no reason not to agree. 

“Of course.” 

The lie slipped easily from Lio’s lips as he felt Galo release his previously tight hold on him. There was a sad look that flickered upon the human’s face, as if he knew that he could be letting go forever, but that look was quickly replaced by a wide smile, “I look forward to next time.”

Something cold and hard settled in the pit of his stomach as he looked at the dopey hopeful smile that now played across Galo’s face. 

_Why? Why was he feeling like this?_

Diving back into the cold ocean waves, he felt his muscles relax a minuscule amount at being in his home environment. The itchy feeling that had been growing steadily on his lower scales, settling down as the water caressed it’s way across them. 

Giving a few strong strokes of his tail, he made it further from the surface, from where he could see the boat breaking up the water as it trailed past his location, not slowing down as it continued on its way. 

He should keep swimming. Keep going deeper. 

He would be safe that way. 

But that cold feeling in his stomach had migrated to his chest now, and tugged him back towards the surface. 

What if the human was more hurt than he originally thought? What if he passed back out after standing up? 

Waiting until the man-made ripples faded from existence, once more becoming apart of the ocean’s natural flow, did Lio swim upwards to break the surface of the water. He shook his head a little bit, causing droplets to fall from his hair onto his shoulders. 

Looking back to see if Galo was still there, he somehow wasn’t surprised to find the human now sitting on the edge, legs dangling dangerously close to the water. 

Galo perked up the second he noticed that Lio had resurfaced, and started manically waving his hand at him, that dopey smile not having left his face from before. 

Lio raised his one hand out of the water to shyly mimic the movement, turning his hand side to side in mirror of the human. 

He realized with a shock that the cold feeling in his chest had disappeared without him noticing, sometime between locking eyes on Galo and his heartbeat picking up. 

_He should leave now, Galo was obviously fine. He didn’t need to stick around any longer._ Those thoughts passed through his logical mind at the same time his traitorous tail kicked him slightly closer without his approval. 

Galo leaned precariously closer to the edge as he neared, a strong grip on the rocks the only thing keeping him anchored, “I’ll be back tomorrow night, but if that doesn’t work for you, I can be back the next day, or the next day, or the next.”

Being a bit frazzled at Galo’s dedication, and not knowing how to respond in kind, Lio snapped a little more angrily than he meant to, “I agreed to seeing you again,” Ignore the fact that Lio had been lying in the moment so Galo would let him go. “So you didn’t have to stick around and wait. You should be resting after smacking your head against solid rock idiot!”

“Yeah but, we never agreed upon a day... and you were the one who came back!” Galo defended himself. “I was just sitting here enjoying the view!”

Annoyed at being called out, Lio blew air out of his mouth, creating bubbles on the surface of the dark water. 

“I was just making sure you had left is all...” Lio trailed off, his excuse sounding weak even to his own ears. 

“And I was just making sure you didn’t get hit by that boat,” Galo easily replied, whether because he was actually somewhat worried about that possibility, or he wanted to tease Lio, he couldn’t tell. 

Lio let out a few amused clicking noises that echoed through his gills, “I can swim circles around those machines of yours, they aren’t that impressive.”

“I bet you could,” Galo agreed, the energy in his voice lower than before. 

Lio had noticed throughout their conversation that Galo’s eyelids had kept drooping further and further closed, a telltale sign that he was fatigued. He now felt justified in his logic for coming back to make sure Galo was okay. But it was obvious that the human wanted to continue their conversation more, but he was going to put a stop to it for their own good. 

“Go get some rest.” Lio shot Galo a look as he opened his mouth to argue. “I’ll be in this area tomorrow night,” Lio declared, with a splash of his tail as he dove under the water, before he stayed even longer than he should. Knowing that Galo would try and stay as long as he did. 

As he swam further away from shore, going deep enough to touch the young kelp beds that lined the ocean floor, Lio was surprised to find excitement flooding his nerves, pushing him even faster. He genuinely wanted to see this human again.

**Author's Note:**

> Me: hell yeah!! burnish merpeople!! what a great concept that I can expand and world build upon!!  
> Also, me: what if ... meis and gueria were crabs? :) 
> 
> (\/) (°,,,,°) (\/)
> 
> (also, I ended up doing way more research than was necessary about these animals, so I must inform you that horseshoe crabs are not in fact crabs. While they are both Arthropods, crabs are apart of a different subphylum (Crustacea) than horseshoe crabs (Chelicerata), thx for coming to my TedTalk)


End file.
